parenting
-
‘What Now?’ I Survived the 1st 18 Years of Parenting Without Going Crazy
I’m not going to lie and sugarcoat how I feel about parenting. When I describe it to friends who don’t have kids, my parenting spiel usually goes something like this: “It can be the best of times, it can be the worst of times.” And as my son graduated from high school this past weekend,…
-
Ok, I'll Admit It: I Kinda Sorta Want A Romper Now
After 18 months of fatherhood, I can pretty much say that it’s been what I expected it to be so far. The Feminist Octobus has been fun, funny, needy, autonomous, precocious, stinky, brilliant, and prone to frequent bouts of baby-ass shit, and the experience of watching her grow has been equal parts thrilling and fulfilling…
-
On Mother's Day, And Remembering My Daughter (Who'd Be 12 Years Old Today)
Sometimes it’s easy to forget it ever happened, to go about life and never have it surface in the forefront of my mind. Even when I am reminded by my naked reflection, the now barely-there line of a scar etched below my pelvis, a slight kiss from a scalpel in yesteryears past. The small Bs that were…
-
On Black Basketball Dads, And Not Knowing How To Feel About LaVar Ball
It took roughly a month at Sterrett Classical Academy for me to be known as the best basketball player there; an admittedly considerable feat for a 10-year-old sixth grader in a school with 14-year-old eighth graders. It was a status due to a combination of the reputation I already earned from playing with the Homewood…
-
Babies Aren’t Birth Control. Kids' Birthday Parties Are Birth Control.
In November 2015, I wrote a piece called “Babies Aren’t Birth Control, Day Care Is Birth Control,” where I expressed the myriad frustrations, both financial and psychological, that arise when you lose the battle with prophylactics or fate and are required to find a safe, secure, and healthy place for your child to be when…
-
Yup, I Have My Own Kid Now. And Yup, I Still Believe Spanking Is A Terrible And Cruel Form Of Discipline
I’m going to keep this short. Because I’ve already written on this topic. And because Stacey Patton’s brilliant and searing New York Times piece (“Stop Beating Black Children“) makes the case better than I ever could, tracing the cruel and dangerous and useless practice of beating our own kids into suitable behavior back to slavery, arguing that we’re…
-
Day Care Employees to Parents: ‘Get Off Your Phone’
Day care employees at a Houston child care facility gave parents with cellphones permanently attached to their faces a few words of advice on the proper protocol when it comes to picking up their rugrats: Get off your phone! Apparently, most of the parents seem to be preoccupied with their phone calls when they’re picking…